Aid helping seniors with heating bills

$50,000 comes from Community Foundation fund.

$50,000 comes from Community Foundation fund.

February 07, 2006|JOSEPH DITS Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- There's a new pool of aid in St. Joseph County for people age 60 and older who face trouble paying their winter heating bills. And unlike a few aid programs, the recipients don't have to wait until they receive a warning that they're about to lose their utility because their payment is late. Pat Hancock, who is screening people for the new aid, said she has known seniors to sacrifice food and medications to pay their utilities -- and to avoid even receiving the shut-off warning. The new help is available now at the nonprofit Family & Children's Center Counseling and Development Services. Hancock is director of financial assistance there. This is the same agency that distributes Winter Warmth aid from Northern Indiana Public Service Co. The aid will fill in the gaps that other programs cannot, she said. A total of $50,000 is being provided via a grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County. And that grant originates from the Foundation's Robert P. and Clara I. Milton Fund, which focuses on issues of senior housing. The foundation has been monitoring the local utility aid programs since Hurricane Katrina sent fuel prices into an upward spiral, said Chris Nanni, the foundation's vice president of programs. "We realize this grant does not address the underlying cause of the issue," Nanni said. "We realize the scope of it." "They'll cut their budget in other ways but not the utilities," Ingrid Simmons said of some needy seniors. "They'll not eat really well, or they won't take medications." She coordinates the separate Energy Assistance Program, which uses state and federal dollars at REAL Services and which doesn't require that recipients have a shut-off notice. Simmons welcomes the new aid because it covers seniors whose income is up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, while her program goes up to only 150 percent of that level. The Energy Assistance Program can give only a one-time, limited amount of aid, which is determined by state guidelines. This year, Simmons said, clients are receiving an average of $250; they can receive up to an extra $115 in cases in which their utility has been shut off or is about to be and the aid doesn't cover all of the back bill. Nanni said the new dollars also will help when the annual moratorium on shutting off utilities for needy customers ends March 15. Unpaid winter bills will have to be paid then, and local aid programs fear they could be "astronomical," he said. The moratorium is only for those who apply and qualify for the Energy Assistance Program. Simmons said use of the local Energy Assistance Program has been rising steadily in recent years. As of Jan. 27, it served a total of 7,669 households in five counties, compared with 6,982 at the same point a year earlier, she said.